There is a fine line between holding back and letting go, a mere second’s decision that is the difference between upholding a commitment to self and letting that commitment go to the wind. In holding the line and staying committed to growth and evolution, momentum builds to remain upon the path of change. To change takes courage as well as commitment, for to really change is to face the fears that have held one back but to also dare the self to forge ahead through and into the unknown. Fear is known, and thus doable, while the unknown is empty territory, full of who knows what. Don’t let it stop you. Keep a positive outlook as you forge ahead and make the unknown known.
Life in a physical body is a solid dream. We require solid foods to maintain the body of that dream. When we exit from that dream, at completion of the solid life we are in, we shift into the dream of life in a much more refined, subtle energy body; one that no longer requires solid foods to survive.
However, attachment to the habits, pleasures and goals of life in a material body cast their shadow upon the new parameters of life in the energy body. Frederick Myers called this stage of existence, life in Illusionland. The Buddhists call it life in the bardos; the Christians call it purgatory.
The architect of these interim dreams is one’s need to achieve satiety with the physical instincts of hunger, sex and power, as well as the ego’s obsession with receiving attention and validation. Imagination and intent are the bricklayers of these subtle dreams.
In that dream state, a mere thought or desire constructs an entire illusory world for the soul to live in. We do not awaken from these dreams until we are truly satiated with the sensual experience of these material desires. We cannot ascend to the new world of possibility of life in the energy body until we’ve completed the incomplete dreams of material life, the seeds of which are planted and lived to completion in Illusionland.
While still existing in the real dream of the solid body, we are afforded solid opportunities to fulfill our material dreams. Fulfillment means true completion, a lack of interest in having more. We can never move beyond that which we still carry a torch for. In some way, we must come to peace with all our passions before we can open to the next rung of spiritual adventure. Why wait?
To complete the physical while still in the physical is to become fully lucid in the life one is currently in. Lucidity is consciousness of freedom of choice, but one must first learn to suspend judgment. If, for instance, one must complete a life of victimhood, choose to fully complete it.
If, on the other hand, one is bored with victimhood, a true sign of completion, then take charge of venturing beyond old habit into the uncertainty of new life.
That boredom may have been accrued through countless groundhog day cycles that culminate in a eureka moment of completion that allows passage to new life. Finally the knock of the Spirit is heard. This may also include physical impacts or other natural consequences that contribute toward that ultimate moment of satiety.
We are all sharing a collective Earth dream of epic proportion right now. Almost out of necessity we retreat into the daydreams of out-of-body fantasies. Our need for safety has us sleepwalking through these extraordinary times. Time to wake up.
The truth is, we are all participating right now in a collective dream that has a very clear intention, and that is to discover if (given our freedom of choice) we will choose to evolve or to extinguish this dream. I’m quite certain we are all in this world at this time because we are ready to collectively answer that question.
Individually, we each face this same question in the context of our everyday lives. Will we fulfill our physical life needs and desires while in physical form? Or will we extinguish that possibility in this lifetime and thus dream it forward into Illusionland?
Be in the body of this life. It’s the main attraction while we’re in it.
With lucidity, let’s keep this dream alive by assuming responsibility for all our dreams, particularly the one we currently, physically embody!
It’s never too late for a life changing action. It’s never too late to take control of your own life. It’s never too late to take leave of that which doesn’t work and to say hello to what does. Fear is the only real deterrent to change. Fear gets in the way of life’s unfolding. Fear leads to failure to fulfill one’s dreams. Overcome fear and see life unfold in new directions, with new experiences as of yet unimagined. You have no idea what’s in store for you. Can you face your fears and dare to see what awaits?
We are of two minds. One of those minds has an identity, an ego, that thinks, feels and knows who it is. The other mind is the subconscious, a far vaster mind that has access to all knowledge and has the potential to become anyone and anything. The subconscious mind has no ego or fixed identity. The subconscious simply becomes what is suggested to it.
When the ego thinks, the subconscious takes the suggestion of that thought and creates it in the physical body. The subconscious does not discriminate fact from fiction. If the ego imagines a frightful possibility, the subconscious treats it as real and armors the body to tense and prepare for clear and present danger.
The subconscious is the older of the two minds. It stores the evolutionary history of the body for its duration in physical life, as well as the historical journey of the soul that inhabits that body. Consequently, the subconscious lacks a specific identity, as its roots stretch way deeper than its current incarnation.
Without locking into any personality the subconscious reacts automatically and instinctively, in a way that has best served the survival of the species. Thus, it reacts to situations based on the suggestions of survival programs that automatically present themselves via association with a current challenge.
However, the subconscious is highly influenced by suggestions from many sources. The ego, or actual personality, exerts a powerful influence through its thoughts, beliefs and imagination. The ego thinks and reflects, which the subconscious does not do, and the subconscious manifests these dramas. Many a psychosomatic symptom or illness is directly the creative manifestation of a suggestion to the subconscious through conscious rumination.
The subconscious is also highly impacted by the free flow of thoughts in the universe, or by the points of view we expose ourselves to in news shows and social media. Political campaigns are judged by the size of one’s financial war chest, which is ultimately spent on suggestions to the subconscious mind’s of voters as to what they should believe and vote for.
Additionally, the subconscious is influenced by our divided selves. Beside our conscious identity are many parts of ourselves that live below the threshold of consciousness, in the region of the psyche that Jung called the shadow. These sub-personalities have minds of their own that constantly offer the subconscious suggestions that immediately register in the body.
I utilize a simple neurofeedback device that registers immediately a changed brainwave state should a background doubt whisper during a meditation session. The subtlety of sensitivity by the subconscious to become what is hinted at is extraordinary.
One does well to bring consciousness to these shadow ideas, that they reach levels of resolution to not unseat one’s conscious intent. This is the path of individuation where one enlarges one’s personality by truly reconciling the oppositions within the self.
Suggestions from such an integrated personality promote health, creativity and fulfillment where that which is within truly reflects that which is without. Such a mind finds duration beyond the relativity of time and space.
Without anger or resentment move on from that which no longer serves you, from that which holds you back from attaining your true form, from that which keeps you stagnant. Old ways must give way to new ways if progress is to be made.
